Robin Cousland
This roleplay character belongs to Grace King (tumblr) and can be found here. Robin "Robb" James Cousland (born in Dragon 9:10), is a somewhat cocky, boyish and flirtatious Grey Warden, who went on to end the fifth blight with his older twin sister and become one of the Heroes of Fereldan. He, along with his sister, Zevran, his brother in law, currently rule Fereldan. Robb is also known as the Dark Wolf in some circles in Denerim, for stealing Teyrn Logain's crown, though he didn't choose this title and almost no one knows the "Dark Wolf's" true identity. His career in Denerim, however, is only the tip of the iceberg. Despite his usual visible lack of maturity in most of life, in fighting Robb is more restrained. This is to the extent that Robb is, surprisingly, an extremely accomplished duellist, some would say one of the best. Due to his 'unique' style he often manages to catch his opponents off guard. He also seems to put on a completely different demeanor in order to take on matters of state, almost like a second personality. Robb is the third and youngest child of Teyrn Bryce and Teyrna Eleanor Cousland, the younger brother of Fergus Cousland and the twin brother of Brid Cousland. During the Fifth Blight, Robb and his sister became Grey Wardens, after their castle in Highever was betrayed and attacked by Arl Howe's forces, and most of their family, and everyone else in the castle, was wiped out. Their castle's defences had been low, since their own forces had been sent away for battle at the side of King Cailan, on his orders, to help end the blight. They survived with the aid of the Grey Warden, Duncan, who had been staying at the castle for a few days looking for recruits (a honour Robb had been quite fond of the idea of getting, but not like this); as long as they agreed to travel with him to Ostagar to join his order and help fight the darkspawn. They met their two fellow recruits, Daveth Ser Jory, at Ostagar. And were sent to the Korcari Wilds to collect some treaties and supplies for their joining. When they returned, however, neither Jory or Daveth survived the joining ceremony and so Brid and Robb were the two recruits remaining. When the battle began, they were sent with another warden called Alistair (who instantly seemed to look almost exactly like the king, but whatever) to light the beacon on the tower to signal Logain's men to join the battle to reinforce his troops. Due to the tower being infested with darkspawn they lit the signal too late, and Loghain fled the battle instead of aiding his king on the field, allowing everyone already fighting to die at the hands of the monsters. This included both Duncan and King Cailin, as well as all of the other Fereldan wardens. Loghain also helpfully branded them the traitors, claiming that the surviving Grey Wardens were responsible for the king's death. They were saved from the darkspawn by Flemeth, Morrigan's mother who they met shortly before in the Korcari Wilds. She saved them from the fray, taken to her cottage, and tended to them somewhat. Upon regaining consciousness, she asks only that they bring her daughter with them on their journey. Despite their outlaw status, the siblings, strangely given the rains by Alistair, used the treaties they'd procured to find allies in the Dalish eves, the warrior dwarves of Orsammar, the militia of Redcliffe, Fereldan Circle of Magi and Legion of the Dead, among others. Along the way they picked up allies who helped them on their journey, and with whom they became friends. These people included Zevran, Leilina, Sten, Oghren, Wynne and Shale. Robin formed a particular bond, though not easily, with Zevran Arainai. The two had a relationship with beneifits for a while, though it developed to something more concrete. Zevran panicked about this but eventually settled, giving Robb a gold earing that he meant as a kind of proposal. Once they had all of the people they could muster they launched their plan. With the help of Arl Eamon, who they saved from death, as well as saving his son from demonic possession, they persuaded the Landsmeet that Loghain was the one lying and that they could solve the problem with the blight rather than obsess over Orlais. This resulted in Robin still having to duel Loghain to settle the score, the resulting fight left the warden with a large scar and is still talked about by the Fereldan nobility. Once the Landsmeet ended, they called in all the allies they made, ready for the darkspawn to attempt to take Denerim. It was a tough fight, but it ended atop Fort Drakon, where the tainted dragon attacked the two grey wardens and the companions they'd brought. Victorious, they now rule over Fereldan, taking it in turns to lead the Fereldan Grey Wardens, situated now in Amaranthine. Robin is a part of the Cousland family, and the current Fereldan royal family. Biography Early Life ]] Robin Cousland was born to Bryce and Eleanor Cousland, the youngest of three children and thus the baby of the family. Considering this, he was third in line to the teyrnship of Highever, and obviously never hoped or expected to inherit it, as it would mean the death of his entire family. He grew up in the beautiful Castle Cousland, a life he appreciates greatly having experienced a life without the luxury he had as a child. As the babies (along with his sister too, by technicality), his mother was very protective of them; this of course led to him being a very rebellious boy, railing against being cooped up or shielded from harm, much as he knew his mother meant well. This mainly meant playing in the local villages or countryside, when his mother of course warned him not to, due to the various dangers out there that it's a young boy not face. And this of course meant avoiding his nanny or "Nan", or she would simply stop him and instead of fun he would be faced with a lecture. Robin, an imaginative little boy, loved it only more for the idea of adventure that came with it. He used to imagine he fought demons and monsters, all of which he had learnt about from his tutor, Aldous. Though the man would refuse blame for young Robb's escapades (and, in fact, frequently discouraged it). Much as he would love to deny it, Robb enjoyed Adolus' lessons in a certain way, he merely found the delivery of the information to be dull. Growing up with older siblings wasn't too hard for Robin, while they had their natural fights (and annoyed the crap out of each other) over things here and there, the siblings were otherwise close as any could be. In the case of Fergus, he apparently took after his mother in some ways, as given the chance he would always be protective of the younger two Couslands. He and his sisters were close with a squire who arrived at the castle at age twelve, Rory Gilmore. Because of this Robb, much to the surprise of some even today, has been an avid reader since he could interpret the words on the pages, immersing himself in various topics, as well as reading as many novels as he could find amongst the history tomes. The topics he found most interesting were ancient battles and histories and strange (to him) and taboo cultures (i.e. that of the Tevinter Imperium, much to the distaste of many). When it was impossible for him to play outside he instead would likely be found reading in the library, to the extent the claims to have read almost all of the books in his grandfather's collection. As with a lot of children, he resisted religiously the duty of having to go to the chantry. While at the time he very much believed, as children will believe what's told to them as truth, he didn't enjoy going to the chantry. At all. Teenage Years In his teenage years, Robin's basic training from his youth intensified. For the most part he enjoyed the fighting, having grown a bit out of his fantasies, he simply found it fun to progress and get better as a fighter. He was a natural, he was told, though it may just have been people saying that to try to appease him, though criticism was given. Unlike some of his peers, who went for heavy swings and deliberate, obvious moves, Robb was more cunning, dodging and parrying those more bullish moves and struck while the opponent was disoriented. While trained as a warrior, from day one Robin was most definitely more of a rogue, and it showed. It was during his early teenage years that Robb first tossed around the idea of there being no maker. He was told he was supposed to feel something, some presence, but felt nothing. The more he thought the more he came to think that there was nothing to suggest he existed. This was a controversial view, mind, so he tried his best to keep it to himself. Though these were truly genuine thoughts, mot people assumed (whenever he actually did bring up the matter) that it was just an extension of his various earlier rebellions. Since he was fairly young, his father and his old friend Rendon Howe were desperately trying to set Robin up with the later's daughter, Delilah Howe. They were also doing this with his twin sister and Thomas Howe (his younger son). This made Robb instantly uncomfortable; though his outright refusal and resulting awkwardness around Delilah was misinterpreted as arrogance on Robb's part (possibly the arl's perspective was key in this), though he tried his best to be nice to her; her and her siblings being some of the only other children he ever interact with. Though in later life he would find out, despite how her father constantly described things, she was not at all interested in him. The main reason this attempted match made Robb uncomfortable was that it became apparent to him that he was not attracted Delilah, or in fact any women. He, in fact, found himself drawn to Bann Loren's son Dairren, instead. This caused a small problem in the family, in that his father thought it was best he find a mach anyway. Robin was obviously dead against the idea, pointing out that such a life would either doom him to a life of misery or to be an adulterer. The fact that his father refused to listen to this greatly annoyed him, however much he understood that his father's intentions were well-meant. His siblings, however were nothing but supportive. It was late in his teenage years that he tried to form a relationship, if an awkward one, with Dairren. The Fifth Blight At the start of the fifth blight King Cailan called the armies of the lesser noble families to a fight at the ruins of Ostagar. That included the Couslands' troops. Robin's father had them ready, but the plan was to send half of them away with Fergus, while he and Howe waited for the rest of his friend's men so that they could head off together. The night before Fergus and the troops left, Howe was already there, bemoaning the tardiness of his troops, as well as none other that his mother's friend and her son, Landra and Dairren. However, another unexpected guest arrived; the Grey Warden, Duncan. He was looking for a recruit to join the Grey Wardens, and to fight alongside them at Ostagar against the Darkspawn. Robb couldn't really deny excitement about this, he liked the idea of fighting for a noble cause. However, his father, predictably, was less than thrilled by the suggestion and the matter was considered dropped (by all but Robin). Bryce gave Robb and Brid the task of informing their older brother Fergus that he should leave for Ostagar before the remainder of the Couslands' troups until Howe's finally arrived. He did a few tasks with his sister beforehand, before meeting up with (and arranging a more private ''meeting with) Dairren. After everyone said their goodbyes to Fergus (for the time being) Robb returned to his room for his rendezvous with Dairren. Howe's Betrayal However, all did not go to plan, Howe's men arrived that night, not to group up with Teyrn Cousland and Howe, but to aid their Arl in capturing the castle. It was thus the sound of fighting and screaming from outside Robb's room. When Dairren opened the door to investigate the was instantly struck down by a guard, a Howe guard. With little time to gather his thoughts he fought off the guards with his hands, unsure to this day of how he did that, dressed and armed himself and ran out into the now empty hall to investigate. Killing a few more that came through before he saw his first friendly faces since his lover's sudden demise; his mother and sister. They exchanged stories of what happened so far and expressed their shock that Howe would do this, but kept it short, knowing that there was no use in standing around. They checked Fergus' room to make sure that Orianna and Oren were alright and to get them to somewhere safer if they could. Unfortunately what they found was the bodies of both of them. They had been callously murdered, making it obvious that Howe didn't intend to take prisoners, he would kill innocent women and children; he wanted the Couslands wiped out ''entirely. in the main hall.]]Tearing themselves away from the horrific sight, they had a discussion on what they would do now. It was decided that they would make their way to the treasury to retrieve the family sheild, armour and swords so that they wouldn't fall into the hands of the man who'd betrayed them. They of course had to fight their way there, with the help of some of the guards and a brave servant. Once there they took everything and headed to the secret passage out of the castle, where they hoped to finally find Bryce. On their way through the main hall they run into Ser Gilmore, who was bravely attempting to hold the door into the main castle so that the bulk of Howe's troups couldn't yet get in, and a few more brave guards. The plan was slowly failing. They helped him clear the hall of any who'd already breached the castle. Robb, knowing that the two (whom he and Brid were close to) would likely die in the effort, offered to stay and help them. He was persuaded out of this both by the two squires and his mother, who pointed out that it would be pointless for them all to stay and die, if some of them could be saved. The three then Couslands left the room, reluctantly, with Robb believing it would be the last time he would see his old friend. The three, and their allies, fought their way through the castle walkways, dealing with one particularly well equipped Howe soldier on the way. They went through the kitchens into the larder and found Bryce there, bleeding profusely from a pretty nasty wound to his stomach. He was very weak, unable to stand, and clearly dying. It was then that Duncan entered the room, having followed shortly behind them. In denial of the obvious fatal severity of his father's wound, Robb suggested they could carry him with them and find him a mage with healing magic. Both Duncan and Bryce informed him that the wound was too severe and they'd never get through with him there, even if he could be taken somewhere quick enough. It took both Brid and Robb a fair amount of persuading, but when asked by Duncan if they would agree to join the Grey Wardens, in exchange for his help getting them out of the castle. It took even more convincing when Eleanor told them that she would be saying. However, with great sadness, they left with Duncan to find Fergus at Ostagar, and help with the effort to stop the blight. Though neither of them planned to let this go. Both Brid and Robb fully planned to get their revenge against Howe and anyone involved in what had happened to them. Though they knew it would have to wait, the blight was still coming, and their brother needed to know of what had happened, not that they were eager to tell him. Ostagar Following the tragedy, the twins kept to their word, and travelled with Duncan to Ostagar to both find their brother to tell him the tragic news, and to await the mysterious joining ritual. Upon arrival they met King Cailan on their way to the camp. The king expressed his shock and surprise at Howe's treachery, and promised justice for their family upon the end of the blight, he also explained the Fergus was not in camp at present, which would make it hard for the twins to give him the bad news. The king showed a lot of optimism about the prospects of the upcoming battle, seemingly emboldened by previous encounters. Robb found this strange somewhat instantly, though chose not to express this to the king, but to Duncan after Cailan left to go about his duties. Duncan admitted that the king was taking things less seriously than he'd like either. This gave Robb a slightly less than good outlook on their leader, he believed he was a man of good intentions, but ultimately he was deeply naive to believe that they would win so definitely, especially given what he'd heard from Duncan so far. He knew, however, it was not his business to argue. It was in Ostagar they met Alistair, one of Duncan's fellow wardens, as well as the two other fellow recruits, Daveth and Ser Jory. The twins also took this chance to have an explore of the camp, encountering the other recruits along the way. They also came across a rude priest who reacted very over-zealously when Robb simply declined a blessing, as well as a prisoner who had been captured for attempting to desert, awaiting presumed execution. He expressed a desire for them to find him some food. Upon talking to him further they found out that he had, in fact, actually been trying to steal some of the mages' supplies in order to sell these on. With them in need of money, Robb agreed to persuade the guard to get some food for him (which ended up with the guard just handing over his own food), in exchange for the key to the mages' supplies. Once the warden recruits had all met, Duncan revealed what they would need to do to prepare for the joining. They were told they had to head into the Korcari Wilds; where they had been charged to collect a vial each of darkspawn blood and to collect a set of scrolls (though this was a side task for while they were there). Robb and Brid collected a few things from the quartermaster (and Robb told a 'white lie' to get a nice sword) before they set off. Upon arrival in the wilds they came across a wounded soldier, they bandaged him up as best they could and directed him toward where he could find the main camp. The state of the soldier begun a murmuring of concern in Jory, who was concerned that the mission was far too dangerous. To which Robb and Brid pointed out that being a warden would be dangerous. A couple of yards down the track Robb found an interesting herb (knowing that these could be useful). Daveth pointed out a flower that the man running the kennels had needed to help a dog who had been in a bad way. Having a well-established ''love for man's best friend Robb agreed they should bring it back to camp for him and the dogs. They headed on, exploring a bit as they went before they ran into their first darkspawn. Robb had never seen anything like them, though he didn's spend long dwelling on the sight. Just as he'd swung to action as Howe's men murdered Dairren, he swung into action now. They made short work of the darkspawn, and collected a few vials of blood out of it. They trekked a fair way through the wilds, meeting enough 'friendly darkspawn willing to share their blood' to complete task one with some change in case some got broken along the way. As they made their way around the wilds in search of the ruins and their second task they came across a great deal of useful loot (which Robb was perfectly happy to sell). They relieved darkspawn of the burden of looking after the loot. They also came across a pile or rocks that a note on some ashes had mentioned. Out of curiosity, and some might say stupidity, Robb sprinkled the ashes over the stones; the result was the awakening of a fairly powerful shade. They managed to defeat it, and Robb rightfully got an earful. Though insists that the magic-enhancing boots they had found with it would be worth the trouble. They pressed on to the ruins to find the discarded and, surprisingly, broken container. There had been wards over said container that had made them 'impossible' to break into and steal. Apparently someone else out there shared Robb's habit of taking 'impossible to break into' as a challenge, as the container was empty: no scrolls in sight. It was then that they met Morrigan, who Alistair warned could be dangerous, but who Brid and Robb, to Morrigan's surprise, treated with (albeit cautious) politeness. Robb didn't doubt that she was formidible, being out in the wilds, but hostility was hardly going to help them get much information from her. It was to the twins Morrigan thus decided to explain that it was her mother had the treaties, and that she had kept them for safekeeping after the wards and seals had worn with time. With Daveth, Jory and Alistair still in the background making suspicious statements (to the end of worrying they'd be turned into toads) even after this was explained, one of them politely asked if they could meet her mother, considering that they really did need these treaties. Morrigan expressed that this was a sensible question, before telling them to follow. Robin decided to take this as an acceptance of the request, as Morrigan had appeared (to their questsmates' concern) to have taken a liking to both twins. Robb's trust in Morrigan, at least to the end of her taking them to see her mother, had been placed well. She took her over to her and her mother's home in the wilds. The woman asked a few, admittedly strange, questions, which she seemed impressed (or at least satisfied) with the answers mainly Robb and Brid's gave as she spoke. Though the others joined in the conversation or interjected on occasion. Flemeth (Morrigan's mother) handed the treaties over and they were free to go on their way. Robb couldn't help but wonder how, had they not been here, Alistair would have managed to collect the treaties with his approach, but chose not to dwell on it. They explained everything, including Morrigan and her mother, though reminded him that he was a Warden and no longer training as a Templar, and so ''whether they be witches or nay it was not his concern at the present time. With everything present and accounted for in terms of the treaties and blood, and with the impending battle growing nearer, it was decided that the ritual to join the new wardens into their ranks should take place as soon as possible. While he wasn't without his concerns about what the ritual entailed, Robb was inclined to agree. To Robin's mind at least, the sooner he got the weird and mysterious ritual no one seemed eager to elaborate on, which somehow involved darkspawn blood, over with the better. There was some muttering amongst the prospective wardens as the ritual was prepared. Jory was vocal about his unease with everything to the poingt of complaining, while Daveth expressed that what they were doing was for the better. Despite his natural concerns, Robb was inclined to agree with Daveth. He didn't exactly relish any of this by any means but there was a blight on and, after all, what did he really have to lose. The wardens needed all the help they could get to prevent Fereldan from becoming a wasteland. When the ritual begun, a few words were spoken, and it was explained that all they need do was drink the solution Duncan had prepared. Given the task they had been sent to carry out, it came as no surprise that the secret ingredient of this happened to be darkspawn blood. Daveth went first and to all of the other recruits' shock it killed him. This set Jory off, he attempted to escape, not wanting to risk death, forcing Duncan to kill him. It came Robb's turn next and, terrified for his sister's life as well probably more than his own, he drank. A searing pain ran though his body and he saw visions of monstrosities before he passed out. It may not have seemed like it for a second, but he had made it. It took Robb a bit longer to come round after Brid had, but he awoke eventually. The wardens all discussed how, frankly harrowing, the joining had been, with Duncan explaining that this was a part of being a warden, and why they weren't so eager to force people to enter to its ranks. They were given new weaponry, as well as a vial of darkspawn blood on a necklace they could wear. This was to remind them of those who had fallen during the ritual, and to remind them of their constant task to be vigilant against the hoards of darkspawn. This was something to which Robb had to wonder "how the hell did one even forget that?", though he didn't ask the question aloud, knowing how well it would likely go down. The twins were instructed to meet Duncan and Alistair to discuss things with the King, who had specifically requested their presence, and Loghain (the king's main general), who had definitely not. They were given a few minutes, however, to gain their bearing on things. This was time Robb used to, since the mages appeared elsewhere, to complete the prisoner's theft of their supplies. Since he was no longer in his cage, Robb assumed that he'd been executed already. He did, however, get a fair price for the items he'd found in the mages' chest when he quickly sold them on. After this Robb regrouped and met with their fellow wardens, as well as the King and Loghain, and discussed the plan going forward. It was decided that Loghain's men would come in later, upon the lighting of a beacon attached to the tower of Ishal. While the rest of the Wardens would fight at the King's side, Cailan wanted Alistair and the twins to be the ones to light the beacon, believing that nothing could go wrong if the Wardens were on the job. Both Robb and Alistair, when discussing this with Duncan, expressed annoyance at such a menial task, however, Robb knew that they would have to do it. And so, with a degree of reluctance, the trio and their Mabaris headed over to the tower. Loghain's Betrayal Lothering "Meeting" Zevran Redcliffe Villiage Redcliffe Castle Saving the Mage Tower Saving Connor Finding Shale Morrigan's Concerns Helping the Dalish Romance with Zevran Helping Morrigan Haven Urn of Sacred Ashes Done Orzammar, and All That Fuckery The Landsmeet Crime Wave Result Ending the Blight Aftermath Searching for Morrigan The Architect The Breach Corypheus Exalted Council Trivia *While Alistair Theirin is rather fabulous, as evidenced by his beautiful customised warden armour, it's an undeniable fact that Robb is the most fabulous of all the Grey Warden crew. *While his and his sisters advocation of Elf rights makes them popular among some who have been waiting for a reform for a long time, it also draws the ire of many otherwise ''loyal nobles, who can be heard loudly over the otherwise agreement of the Landsmeet. **These would be the ''same people who complain about the existence of Zevran. *Robb's crime alias, which he didn't pick, has an imposter last known to be living in Amaranthine. **He later met the guy and, after teasing him a bit, admitted that he didn't really mind there being another in Amaranthine. **The one in Denerim (i.e. Robin) was believed captured and taken to Fort Drakon. Which is technically true, through the impostor who reported this rumour to Robb seemed to have no knowledge of "the Dark Wolf" escaping. Robb was disappointed by this, as he found his and Alistair's escape from the tower to be one of his favoured 'accomplishments' *Incidentally, Robin, along with Alistair, are the first known people to succesfully escape Fort Drakon. *Robb once stole almost the entire store of a mead brewery over the course of a few days when he heard the proprietor mistreat an en eleven woman who cleaned some of the local business. *Over the course of the game Robb proved both of Morrigan's points about what men 'always' going to believe when she said "Men are always willing to believe two things about a woman: one, that she is weak, and two, that she finds him attractive." to be wrong. **He instantly showed that he found both she and Brid (as well as many other companions) to be formidible and/or strong, and often took fake damsel acts with a degree of scepticism. **Robb was completely unaware of Morrigan's affection toward him, which she was forced to express to him bluntly, even initially assuming this was intended as a joke. *A clear weakness of Robb's is that he will seemingly go out of his way to protect children without always thinking it through. He went to dangerous lengths to ensure the safety of a girl who was nearly possessed, putting himself on the line in the place of the child. **This weakness would be amplified if the child was one of his own. *Robin tends to be sentimental with his weaponry and other things. **He wore the family armour the entire time he was working toward ending the Blight. **He tends to name his newer weapons after family members. 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